COMPLETE SLACKER.... I know..But here, I will catch you up!

Ok yall, I have been a slacker on my blog... please accept my apologizes! Right now life is pretty much the same ol same ol... work work work. I get to school at 6:30am and leave somewhere between 4 and 6 (usually closer to 6). I bring a bag of stuff home with all the intention to do something...and nope, it sits on the floor by the door where I put it when I come in. I am so exhausted all the time! I just want to sit on my couch and watch a movie, and that is what I do. I have made a few friends at church and a couple of girls at work (that are also first year teachers and have pretty much the same schedule I do). Sometimes on the weekends, I go to the farmers market and the public library on Saturdays. I know, I have an exciting life right?

Well, most weekends I travel down to Hattiesburg and hang out with Leanne and Branson and their kids. On Saturday mornings we go to the kids sporting events and in the afternoons, Leanne and I have girl time and go to Dirt Cheap and get cheese dip, while Branson being the fantastic husband he is, stays home with the kids. Thanks Branson!! Also, this guy I have been sorta seeing comes up from the coast every now and then and we spend some time together :) The other day Leanne and I were talking about how we have been friends for 16 years now (since 9th grade)...it doesn't seem that long. I am truly blessed that she is one of my best friends! I am heading down there again this weekend. We might go to the progressive dinner her Relief Society is doing or we will go to a movie. We will probably end up driving to the coast Saturday afternoon to help another friend of ours from high school move. Not exactly what we had planned, but Jenny needs our help so we are going to help the best we can.

I did get to go home for Thanksgiving. I had the whole week off, which was FANTASTIC! My mom and I went Dirt Cheap shopping and I got some amazing deals: a Weight Watchers scale (that does body fat, water weight, bone density, etc) for $2.00, a big square Brita that stays in the fridge with a spout on it with 3 filters for $1.50, a clothes drying rack for $1.oo and a ton of other little things for a nickle and a dime each - this is not a typical Dirt Cheap experience, my mom and I happened to hit it on a day when they had a few rows of 95% off merchandise (all Target stuff!). My mom and I had a blast while I was at home. Oh she also loves me so much that she is keeping my cat for me right now and taking her to the vet to get fixed next week! Thanksgiving dinner with the fam... no big deal. It was the first time I have been home for Turkey Day in 3 years and I have decided to go out of town for Thanksgiving from now on. Next year - Logan, Utah to spend it with my other best friend, Lynley. That is where I should have gone this year. But if I did I wouldn't have gotten the great Dirt Cheap deals I did. :)

Oh, I also haven't seen anyone in my family, besides my mom, since the end of July/beginning of August and NO ONE mentioned that I was looking skinner... hello! I have lost 20 pounds and 2 more over the break! Not one, you are looking good, have you lost weight? Nothing. Crud, people I work with and see me everyday ask me if I am losing weight because they can tell... did I mention they see me everyday too?? Ok, sorry for my rant. I needed to vent. Sorry yall were the ones to have to hear it!

Now I am focusing on the next 2 weeks and 2 days (no, I am not counting down or anything) until Christmas break. This week has flown by and this weekend will be busy. Next week is full of exciting learning and next weekend, Lynley flies home for the winter break from Utah!!! I am picking her up from the airport here in Jackson and driving her down to Hattiesburg. Then one last week and two weeks off! Score! My kids are getting wilder by the day and I have to get more strict/mean however you want to look at it. I have pulled the Santa card and told them I get a call from Santa every night to see how they were in class. It is working on some and others nothing. Sigh. These kids are so hard core that Santa doesn't even work on them!

Speaking of hard core kids, I am now having to deal with a certain little girl and boy that keep sticking their hands down each others pants! I have called parents and the boys dad told me that the boy said he didn't do it... hello I saw him do it!!! So the dad doesn't think it is his son and I need to get my students straight. Ugh. Well, today the librarian caught them doing it and she was going to call the parents. Maybe he will believe me and her... probably not. The girls mom says she is a tomboy and would never do anything like that. Hello, you are a hoochie momma and your 5 year old is just like you... a tomboy? right. Yesterday, I told another little darling angel to go sit down and finish his work and he told me 'whatever'. I about blew my top. I grabbed him by the back of his shirt as he was walking off and had a few words with him. Seriously, these kids have no respect for ANYONE!! It is scary to think this is the future of America and the world. Is it bad that I can look at some of them and say: future jailbird, drug dealer, pregnant at 14 (or younger)? Most have such potential and talk about being doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, etc and I can see them doing it. They are the ones with parents that care and are active parents. Others say they want to be this or that and I pray that they can get out of the environment they are in and achieve those dreams and not repeat the cycle of life they are being brought up in. I know I am complaining a bit, but really I have grown to love each of them for who they are. I want them to be able to achieve their dreams and to succeed in all they do. I don't want them to fall victim of their environment, peers, family, or society. Some (most)days some of them make me nuts but everyday they make me smile. I love that I can yell, fuss, discipline them and they overlook that and still ask for hugs and tell me they love me and I am the best teacher ever. I have taken a line from the book Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse and tell it to those that are having bad days (and to myself): Today was a rough day, tomorrow will be a better day. Teaching is tough, but I am trying my best to do what is best for them. I want school to be a fun and safe time for them. I want them to be able to be kids while they are in my care, they are only 5 and 6, but many have to deal with things that I wouldn't want to deal with once they leave school. I am glad I am able to have this experience, because it is nothing I have ever been around. I was raised in a completely different world from what many of my students are being brought up in. I don't just mean the times we live in either. I am thankful for the parents I have and for the the environment I was able to be brought up in. I am thankful for the love, support and understanding I received from my parents. I am thankful they were active parents that cared about my education and my well being.

I am sorry this has been so long and a bit of a rant at times. I promise to be a better blogger and not store it all up for once:) Thanks for listening or should I say reading! I love you all!